CHAPTER 28

~ Taken Captive ~

 

Callie stares into the mirror with open mouthed stupefaction.  “Is that really me, or is this mirror somehow enchanted?” she breathes into the quiet room. 

Demonia, the hair stylist, a sultry vampire, with a thick mane of ebony hair wove into an intricate updo and classically beautiful features smiles indulgently.  “No magic mirrors here.  What you see is what you get.  That hair is the result of your own good genes and my skill as a stylist.  The brow shaping and make-up are, of course, Silesia’s handiwork.”  The vampire smiles indulgently.  “But that shine, that inner glow, you gotta know that is all you, your majesty.”

“Pfft,” Callie huffs.  “Callie.  I’m Callie, not your majesty.”

“You are both,” Morna chides gently upon entering the room.  “However, I understand the reluctance to use the ridiculous titles our world is so fond of.”  She looks around as though about to reveal a huge secret.  “I despise being called Madame Spell Weaver.  I’m Morna Michaels.  But I also happen to be the leader of a very powerful clan of magick wielders, so I am stuck with that title, among others.”  She sighs softly and shrugs.  “You will get used to it.  I promise.”

Other females of the group pour into the room as though in response to some secret cue, and Callie can’t help but smile at all of them wearing luxuriously plush terry cloth robes in various pastel shades with the Harper House sigil embroidered on the lapel.  Each woman is sporting a fresh manicure and pedicure, a new hairdo or cut, as well as fresh make-up and an unmistakable inner glow which tells everyone they are feeling particularly pampered and pretty after their spa experiences. 

“I’m starving,” Mara groans loudly.  “Let’s eat before we go shopping!”  At the barrage of giggles that greet her suggestion, Mara simply raises her hands in surrender.  “Hey, I can’t help it.  I need food.  I willingly dragged my lovely round behind out of bed two hours early this morning to get my training session with the new enforcer recruits out of the way so that I would be free to flash to Tulsa to indulge in some girl time.”  She chuckles dryly.  “Keres is my primary female companion back at the ranch, and most days she carries on as though she is allergic to anything even remotely “girly”.”

The Beast Realm guardian grins at Susie.  “This little human can be very persuasive and is obviously very good at getting things done, even when it involves marshalling very difficult and powerful personalities.  I’m thinking of hiring her to run my women’s charities for me.”

Susie smiles sweetly.  “Thanks, but no can do.  I begin my new doctorate program soon.  I won’t have time for spa days and organizing anything but my own life once that begins.”

“Doctorate?” Mara asks, cocking her head to one side much like the beast she harbors in her soul.  “What kind of doctorate?”

Callie throws an arm over her friend’s shoulder and faces Mara with a beaming smile on her lovely face.  “Our Susie here wants to do research and teach in her chosen field.  Psychology. She already has her Masters in Psychology from Tulsa University and plans to complete her work on a Doctorate degree in California.”

“Cali!?! Tina says.  “Why didn’t you tell us?”  No one misses the obvious sadness in sweet Tina’s tone and expression.

“When,” Jenniene pipes up.  Obviously, the enforcer is concerned that this is the first she is hearing of Susie’s plans to leave Tulsa.

One look at Susie’s face and Callie knows her young friend is not happy being the center of attention.  She gives the girl’s shoulder a comforting squeeze before addressing the group.  “Yeah, maybe we should call her Dr. Williams instead of Susie Q.”

“Not yet,” Susie declares laughingly, as she plays along with Callie’s distraction ploy.  Just as Callie intended, the group stopped hitting Susie with a barrage of questions and began playfully singing the old CCR classic and dancing as the attendants led the group upstairs to enjoy a sumptuous luncheon in the top floor eatery.  Susie gives Callie’s hand a gentle squeeze and small smile to convey her appreciation for the intervention.  Callie isn’t certain how she knew that Susie wanted the group to get away from the topic of her life and accomplishments.  The older woman just knew intervention was needed, and stepped up to help out her younger friend.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Callie pushes the dessert plate back with a satisfied groan.  “Oh my goodness.  Chocolate has always been my favorite, but that cake was practically orgasmic.”

The waitress giggles quietly as she moves in to discreetly remove the dessert plates.  “Our dessert chef will be delighted to hear that.”

Siri arrives with a coffee carafe in hand.  “Anyone need another shot of caffeine before hitting the shops?”

At the resounding round of no thank yous, she smiles and hands the carafe off to another waitress.  “So, does that mean it is time to go downstairs for shopping?”

“Ugh,” Callie moans theatrically.  “I’m not much of a shopper.”

“Perhaps not,” Morna pipes up.  “But as the newly awakened Dragon Queen you will have need of an impressive wardrobe.”  She chuckles.  “And you will not want to manifest every outfit on the fly.  Sometimes, shopping is essential.”

“Uh… I can’t do that.”  Callie shakes her head.

“Oh, but you can.  You can manifest clothing and so much more.  You’ve just not yet tapped into your abilities.”  The Spell Weaver purses her lips thoughtfully.  “Once you’ve fully embraced your mating and your destiny, your confidence will grow and the rest will come fairly easily.”  Callie opens her mouth to hit Morna with a barrage of questions, but the older woman smiles knowingly while shaking her head.  “Later.  Later we can discuss your abilities and how to tap into them.  Val will help with the magick stuff.  Eurig can help with understanding the traditional ways of Dragons.  Morrígan, Mara, and I can help with combat training and battle tactics…”

The redhead looks at her sister Breena and mutters; “My sister can help you understand your role in setting up a new body of governance for a population of unruly supes.”  Breena giggles and lifts her coffee cup as though in a salute of agreement.  “Logan, Mara’s mate, can help with that as well.  In fact, it will be his job to help the Dragon Queens set up the governance of this new realm.” 

Tina Darkheart, who has spent most of the outing being quietly entertained on the fringes, speaks up.  “Before you came along, I was the newbie, so I understand feeling overwhelmed by all of this supernatural woo-hoo.”  She smiles a bit over the idea.  “Jenni and I were both born fully human.  Gin thought she was fully human.”  The pretty Italian brunette giggles sweetly.  “The three of us can help you adapt to your new reality.  Discovering the fantastical world of Immortals is a bit overwhelming, especially when you learn you actually have a role to play.”  She smiles sweetly at Callie.  “And you, my dear Callie, have a very important role to play.  But you are not facing any of it alone.  You have your mates and the support of the entire MC and all of our friends on your side.”

“Aye,” Morrígan agrees rising to her feet.  “You do, indeed, dearie.  But you also have a bit of free time for a sky’s the limit shopping spree.”  She smirks at the other women at the table.  “What say you, ladies?  Shall we entice our reluctant Callie into a bit of retail therapy?”

Two hours into a whirlwind of trying on a wide array of amazing clothing and shoes, Morna plops down on a comfy loveseat in one of the boutiques to eye the latest outfit Callie has tried on.  The ultra-fitted, collared silk shirt, and notched-collar, two-button windowpane silk jacket topping the slim pencil skirt looks very good on Callie.  It would be an excellent choice for appearances where Callie must look the part of the Dragon Queen, but Morna can tell the younger woman doesn’t care for it.  “You totally rock that staid little suit, Callie, but I get the feeling it’s not your favorite.”

“Not at all,” Callie admits ruefully.  “That much simpler fitted tuxedo style jacket was actually more my thing.”  She laughs and tosses her head.  “Who am I kidding?  Yoga pants, a racer tank, and cross trainers are more my thing.”

Morna laughs and concedes that they all prefer more casual attire to staid designer suits.  “Were I you, I’d get the suit anyway.  That suit speaks bad-ass, in any language.”  She chuckles dryly.  “Sometimes my dear, it is easier to let our clothes do the talking to those who are shallow enough to pay heed to such things.”  Morna smiles warmly.  “I know it’s not really something you would normally choose, but were I you, I’d buy the suit along with the shoes and bag.”  She crosses her legs and leans back upon the loveseat with a confident smile upon her lips. 

“I absolutely agree,” Susie says sweetly.  “Go try on that evening gown I just left in the dressing room for you.  It’s a pretty little satin jewel tone number that I think you will love.”

Callie smiles warmly at her friends and concedes with a reluctant nod before making her way back into the dressing room.  By this point, Callie is sick and tired of playing dress up.  She simply wants to go home to her child and her mates.  With that thought in mind, she slips out of the stuffy jacket to hang it up.  Kicking the shoes off, she quickly divests herself of the rest of the ensemble.  She smiles when Nyle’s ringtone, Bad Moon Rising, sounds from her clutch bag. 

Retrieving her phone, she taps the screen to accept the call.  “Hey Wolf-Man, how’d you know I was thinking about you guys?”

Nyle’s chuckle through the phone line warms her heart.  She pins the phone against her shoulder and moves to return the shirt and skirt to their respective hangers.  “Mate bond, baby.”

“How is Clara?”

“Being happily spoiled rotten by her daddies and our MC Brothers,” Nyle crows proudly.

“Why do I not have a hard time believing that?”  Nyle warms to the sound of her laughter. 

Callie opens her mouth to say something else to her mate when she gasps because the mirror in front of her reveals that Finn Connor has materialized behind her.  She turns to face the interloper when he speaks.  “There you are, my pretty little blood bag.  You’ll be going with me now.”  Grasping her bare shoulders with both hands, he roughly yanks her body against his and uses his dimensional jumping ability to whisk her away before she can even think to react.

Her surprised gasp when they arrive in a cold, dark, and dank room echoes off the barren stone structure.  When Finn releases his hold on her and steps back to leer at her nearly naked body in the dim light of a torch, Callie shudders as he rakes his eyes over her exposed flesh and it is all that Callie can do to not cover her body and cringe in a dark corner as memories of the night this beast assaulted her flash through her mind.  But the moment she meets his lecherous gaze, all impulse to cower and hide from this monster evaporate to be replaced by fury and an unwavering urge to rip her attacker to shreds.  The fiend’s next words are intended to make Callie feel inferior and to fear for her life, but they miss their mark by a mile.

“Never thought I’d get a second shot at you, my little blood bag.”  He licks his lips and rakes his ravenous gaze over her mostly naked body.  “Looks like my venom did your frumpy human body a good turn.  You are well rid of all that human fat.”  He shudders as though disgusted by her former body with its soft curves that have been replaced with sleek contours of gently toned muscle.

Callie squares her shoulders to face her enemy with her hands hanging at the ready to lash out.  Finn is foolish enough to see the lack of overt response as a sign that his quarry has given up.  “I know your heart stopped beating the night I ripped you to shreds. I was so certain you were dead!” Momentarily, he looks confused, and then irate. “Dysnomia made me pay dearly for not finishing my assignment that night.”  He looks over his shoulder through the open cell door as though expecting his mistress to arrive at any moment and continue his punishment. 

“Fortunately, I managed to arrange things so that I could get a second shot at you.  You see, little blood bag, we have supporters everywhere.”  He laughs dryly.  “Not that we can truly call the forest nymph who dropped the wards at Harper House so that I could get in a supporter.  After all, she only helped me because I am holding her daughter in one of the holding cells on this property.”  His amusement over some unnamed child’s lethal predicament makes Callie literally see red and she knows her dragon nature is dying to be unleashed.

“What the hell?” Finn sputters and steps back when he notices her pupils elongating and her eyes begin glowing red.

“Oh, I’ve experienced a few other changes besides trimming off the inches,” Callie purrs as she stalks toward her attacker.  Her hands fist at her sides as she calls upon her battle form.  The vicious vampire simply quakes in terror as Callie towers over him in her new persona.  She cannot help but smirk because his actions reveal him for the true coward that he is.  While Finn Connor found it very easy and entertaining to victimize and subjugate Callie when she was a simple human woman, he is now quivering in abject fright because the shoe is suddenly on the other foot.  The vile specimen actually whimpers as his former victim opens her hands to reveal vicious talons exploding from her fingertips as the brilliant scarlet battle armor of dragon scales erupt from her skin and her entire frame explodes into her six and half feet tall battle form.  When her wings unfurl behind her, Finn Connor literally wets his pants at the chilling sight before him.

“You… you are a dra… dragon?” he whispers as he stumbles backwards in a futile attempt to avoid his fate.

“Most definitely,” Callie drawls confidently as she advances on her cowering prey.  “How does it feel to know you are about to die at the hands of a physically superior being?”  She wraps her clawed hand around his throat and lifts her enemy several inches off of the floor.  “Tell me, Finn, how does it feel to know you are helpless in the face of a merciless foe?”  Callie’s smile is wholly wicked as she relishes the power flowing through her veins, as she relishes the scent and flavor of Finn Connor’s well deserved terror… at her hands.

Finn opens his mouth to scream for help but her grip is too tight to allow speech or even breathing were it necessary for a vampire to do so.  “I’m going to savor your terror just as you reveled in my helplessness that night in that alley.”  The urge to torture and abuse her attacker much like he did to her is riding Callie hard, but her better self realizes she needs to dispatch him quickly and find her way back to her mates. 

“Where are we?” she demands.  “Where did you take me?”  When he opens his mouth to speak but nothing comes out, Callie loosens her grip marginally.

“Chouteau,” he croaks out.  The magickal compulsion of Callie’s superior will is overriding his own autonomy.  His eyes cast about furiously, looking for someone, anyone, to save him from his certain fate.  But the dragon queen’s unspoken demand for obedience is stronger than the vampire’s survival instinct.  “It’s an abandoned water treatment plant.  We’ve… Uh, Dysnomia’s followers have created a headquarters of a sort here.  We are three levels below the original building.  The mundanes don’t have a clue and the supes can’t sense us this far below ground with the blood wards and other measures on the property.”  He gags and chokes a moment or two before pleading for mercy.  “I was only following orders…”

Callie snorts and chooses to ignore his lame excuse.  Unwilling to risk her would be murderer getting away while she rescues the other captives which her enhanced senses have revealed, Callie simply tightens the grip on his throat before he can spew any more lies or beg for mercy.  She smiles her satisfaction when the desperate panic in his eyes is replaced with utter certainty of his impending death.  “It seems only fitting that my first official act as the Dragon High Queen will be to end your miserable life and free these prisoners.  I have no idea what hell looks like for your kind, but I hope it is truly horrible.  You deserve no less.”

Tightening her grip even further, and allowing her talons to cleave deeply into his stone cold flesh, Callie’s smile falters a bit when Finn’s head snaps off his body with a sickening ‘plop’ to roll across the dirt and mold encrusted stone floor.  She drops the body as though disgusted by the contact.  Leaning down, Callie contemplates wiping the blood on her hands unto his clothing and mutters to the corpse; “That was a much more humane end than you deserve.”

Callie’s very human conscience is screaming at her that she should be feeling remorse for taking another’s life, but the Dragon part of Callie, the part which survived the vampire’s savage attack a little over two months ago, knows that Finn Connor got off easy with her impromptu execution.  And if she is being totally honest with herself, the heady cocktail of primal emotion raging through her body is awakening darker, more carnal urges.  Urges so strong she wishes her males were with her at this very moment.  Somehow, she doesn’t think her reluctance to complete the mating bond would be an issue if Kazar and Nyle were in this dank and dirty cell with her in this frame of mind.

Straightening from wiping her filthy hands upon her victim’s clothes, Callie pushes those darker urges aside so that she can look around the cell.  She shudders in revulsion at the stink of the place.  A nearly overwhelming aura of death and hopelessness permeates the very air around her, making her want to find the other prisoners ASAP. Without a moment’s hesitation or backward glance at her former subjugator, Callie strides out of the open cell door, and follows her enhanced senses down the dark hallway in search of the prisoners and their captors. 

After several minutes of cautiously stalking through a maze of dim hallways, she finds the first prisoner.  The man is lying unconscious in a heap in the corner of the dank cell.  Even with her enhanced senses, Callie cannot make out many details, so she looks around for something to light the cell.  She snorts when all she finds is an old kerosene lantern with an attached fire starter hanging from a hook on the wall.  She recognizes it from watching welders use similar devices to ignite their torches.  The fire starter looks kind of like a giant safety pin, but Callie knows there is a bit of flint or something inside the cap.  When the device is squeezed quickly enough, the metal will scrape across the stone and emit a spark.  That spark should be enough to ignite the kerosene soaked wick of the lantern.  After a few unsuccessful attempts, the spark finally catches and the wick ignites.  Taking a moment to adjust the length of the wick so that it will burn brightly, Callie carefully lowers the glass dome before holding the glowing lantern aloft for a look around.  Next to the hook which held the lantern is a massive ring of ancient looking keys.  Callie hopes the huge number of keys is not indicative of the number of cells holding prisoners. 

“Oh, craptastic,” she mutters under her breath before turning to face the occupied cell.  With the light from the lamp, Callie can now see the prisoner is wearing a Twin Ravens MC cut.  Hopefully, he is actually one of the good guys and not bait for a clever trap.  “You alive in there?” Her whispered question goes unanswered, but Callie isn’t deterred.  Especially not once the dim illumination of the kerosene lantern falls on the back of the man in the cell. “Wake up, buddy.  I’m trying to break out of this place, but I think I am going to need some help getting everyone out of here.”

After a few more silent moments, Callie exhales her frustration when he doesn’t respond.  Even though her senses are telling her that the man isn’t breathing and there is not a heartbeat, she’s convinced he is alive and simply waiting for her to stupidly enter the cell.  “Look, my name is Callie Boyd.  My mates are Kazar and Nyle.”  Still, the man remains motionless.  “Crud.  Maybe you are dead, but my instincts say no.”  Silence reigns and Callie debates the wisdom of wasting any more time on this unidentified man.  “Dammit, either you are TRMC or you stole that cut from an enforcer.  Which is it?”

When several long moments go by without the man responding, Callie mutters.  “Fine, lie there and rot until I can figure out how to free the others and contact my mates.  Maybe you’ll decide to get up off your butt when your fellow enforcers arrive to clean up this mess.”

Without wasting another moment on the man, Callie turns on her heel and marches down the hallway.  Once she’s nearly at the next cell door, she hears the faintest movement from the cell holding the man in the Twin Ravens cut.  Soundlessly, she makes her way back to his cell.  Not surprisingly, the mystery man is now sitting up glaring at her through the bespelled bars.  His matted fiery hair and shaggy beard clue Callie in that he has likely been held in that cell for quite a long while.

“How do I know you are really here to release me?” he growls out quietly.  “Dysnomia’s freaks do love their little mind fucks.  How can I trust this isn’t just a new way of screwing with my head?”

Callie shrugs.  “I have no idea.  How do I know you are not just sitting in there as bait?  Maybe the TRMC cut is just a trick to get me to let my guard down?”  The stone faced male simply glares hatefully at her, so Callie shrugs. “Heck if I know.”  She cocks her head to one side thoughtfully.  “But I do know I’m going to free the rest of the prisoners and figure out how to get us some help.” 

When the man continues to glare mutely, Callie turns as though to walk away, all the while muttering about remembering to hang on to her phone next time she is kidnapped from a dressing room.  It is obvious she really is leaving and the god-like man with the fiery red hair and now glowing red eyes growls at Callie from his corner.  She halts and turns back to face the prisoner.  “Whatever,” she growls back with a deeper voice than should be humanly possible.  “I can do that too.”  With her childish taunt, she allows her carefully banked fury to glow from her eyes and a deep, bestial growl to emanate from her chest.

“What in the nine hells are you?” the man demands gruffly as he easily rises to his feet.

“It would seem, I am to be the freakin’ high dragon queen.”  The man steps back with his hands raised before him, whether in surrender, shock or fear, Callie has no idea.  “Like I said, my name is Callie Boyd and I am mated to Kazar and Nyle.  And I would really, really like to figure out how to get out of this hellhole and contact them.”  She sighs and shifts her feet while cocking her hip, apparently at ease in their strange standoff.  “I was on the phone with Nyle when that dimensional jumper snagged me from Harper House.”  Involuntarily, she sniffles at thoughts of what her mates must be enduring.  “I have no idea what they must be thinking right about now.”

A deep, dark, raspy sound that might be meant to resemble a chuckle emits from the flame haired male.  “Knowing Nyle, that overly protective wolf is likely losing his ever-loving mind.  But don’t worry, he’ll keep his shit together long enough to take care of business.  And if not, Kazar is always level headed and will keep the pup in line.  They will figure out where you are if you just open your mate link to them.”

“How do I do that?” Callie asks.  The hopeful but uncertain note in her voice doesn’t escape the man’s notice.

“Look, lady, I thought you said you are mated to those two assholes.  You oughta know how this shit works, right?”

“Uh, I’m pretty new to all this stuff.”  She sighs quietly.  “Apparently, the bond hasn’t fully formed.”  Callie doesn’t look away to hide her blush only because she knows the scarlet dragon hide of this battle form doesn’t reveal her secret.  This unknown male with a cocky attitude has zeroed in on one of Callie’s insecurities.  Even though her sexual drive has taken an increasingly carnal and primal turn as she embraces her dragon nature, she knows she is still holding back, making excuses to avoid embracing her role as Dragon Queen and mate to two powerful males.

Another dry, raspy sound rattles from the cell as the ragged but handsome man in the TRCM cut, filthy tee shirt and tattered jeans takes a couple of slow steps toward the cell door.  The male looks like he’s been through hell and back, but it doesn’t seem to have affected his swagger.  Callie just knows by the cocky smirk on his face that she probably will not like what is about to come out of his mouth.  “Let me guess, before you met your mates you were some blushing human virgin and you haven’t worked up the courage to fuck both of your mates at the same time?”

Her dragon eyes flare with her inner fury over a denigrating comment from some unknown male in a prison cell.  What the hell does he think he knows about me or my sex life?  She rages inwardly and winds herself up to really give him a piece of her mind, but before she can respond, Morrígan, Blood, Kazar, and Wrath flash into the hallway behind Callie.  Kazar has Callie in his arms before she can utter a sound.  Wrath and Morrígan take off in different directions to recon the situation.  Blood approaches the cell door and glares through the bars.  “Cin? Is that really you?”

“Yeah, it’s me.  You guys gonna get me outta here?  It’s been a long time.”

After sharing a kiss that leaves them both breathless, Callie pulls away to search her lover’s face.  She smiles because he too is sporting his obsidian battle form.  “Nyle is with Clara?”

“Indeed,” Kazar confirms and then rains another series of joyful kisses upon her face.  “When he heard Finn Connor on the phone, we knew the only way to protect the baby from the dimensional jumpers was for one of us to maintain physical contact.”

Callie smirks wryly.  “So, does that mean Nyle drew the short straw and had to stay with the baby?”

“No, my love,” Kazar says in all seriousness as he cups her face.  “He was holding a sleeping Clara in his arms when he made the phone call, and it just naturally worked out that I came along to fetch you and he remained behind to protect our daughter.”  He smiles into her tear filled eyes before adding; “He knew, just as I did, that our female is not helpless, but our baby needs our strength to safeguard her.”

Before Callie can respond, everyone turns at the sound of Morrígan’s laughter from a distant room.  Kazar and Blood look toward Callie, who only shrugs.  But they all understand just moments later when they hear Morrígan cackling about her charge twisting the head of her captor off like a child plucking dandelion fluff.  “What’s that about?” Kazar asks with a knowing smirk.

“She’s probably found Finn Connor’s headless body,” Callie admits quietly.  She begins shaking her head.  “But that’s not really important right now.  I think there are other prisoners here.  The wood nymph who dropped the wards at Harper House, I think they are holding her daughter in one of these cells.  I was trying to get this TRMC enforcer to get off his butt and help me free the other prisoners.”

Cin and Blood chuckle at her comment.  “Incendiary, or Cin as he prefers, is a Norse fire demon.  They are pretty much mortal this far underground, especially with all this iron ore around him.  Fire Demons are really Fire Fae and Nordic Aesir hybrids.”  Kazar says with a look at his fellow enforcer.   “Judging by his condition, I’d say they’ve been using him for a blood buffet and punching bag for some time.”

Callie steps out of Kazar’s arms as she raises the key ring.  “Maybe one of these will open his cell?”  She moves as though to begin trying the lock when Kazar halts her in her tracks by gently gripping her arm.  “Let Blood do that.  It’s probably bespelled and you do not know how to work around spells yet.”

Without any argument, she hands the keys off to Blood and says; “I want to go home to our family.”

Kazar smiles widely and agrees.   “Yes, my love, let us go home to our family.  Our mate and our child.”  He leans down to kiss her lips tenderly, but Callie is having none of that.  She deepens the kiss, claiming her vampire’s mouth with a possessive fervency that surprises them both.  At the sound of someone clearing their throat, Callie reluctantly ends the kiss.  Kazar smiles wickedly at the feral lust that is glowing in his mate’s lovely eyes.  It is that moment that Callie realizes their battle forms have retreated and she standing there in her mate’s embrace wearing nothing but a shredded black lacy pair of panties and a matching bra. 

Callie looks down at her disheartening lack of cover but simply shrugs with a saucy smirk and a tilt of her head.  Hey, why get worked over something she cannot change?  At least she survived being taken captive.  Callie figures it is time to count her blessings, so she quips light heartedly to her companions, completely ignoring her state of undress.  “I hope the girls retrieved my phone and clothes from the dressing room.”

Kazar throws his head back to roar his laughter at her laid back response.  Once he stops laughing, he leans in to kiss the tip of her nose.  “I’m sure that someone will bring your possessions to our home before too long.”  He looks over at Blood to request he take them home.

“Brother, your magick was strong enough to get you here, why do you doubt it now?” Blood is obviously confused by Kazar’s request.

“I’ll not risk my female with my spotty abilities.”

Blood sighs and shakes his head.  But before he can chastise his enforcer for his lack of confidence in his own abilities, Morrígan returns with Connor’s body over her shoulder and his severed head dangling from her left hand.  “Ah hell, blood sucker, why do you be thinking the feckin’ high queen needs an ancient vampire to translocate her to her own home?”

“Uh, let’s see, because I am new to this stuff?” Callie queries with an impatient huff.

“True enough, but your psychic link to your mates is strong enough that they heard every word of your conversation with Connor and Cin.  That’s how we found you, dearie.  Once we got here, Blood had to call in Prima Conti to break the blood spells Dysnomia’s flunkies used to ward this place.  Otherwise, your mate would have been here quick enough to save you the chore of dealing with this garbage.”  The Irish Raven grins and shifts her weight from one foot to the other as she hefts the dangling head to emphasize her words.  “How your mental link to your boys got through that warding is beyond me, but it did.  If your magick is already strong enough to do that, I am thinking that visualizing yourself back in your own home with your other mate and wee babe would be pretty damn easy.”